You probably know someone you consider handy. Maybe it is a friend, or neighbor, or your uncle Chuck. That handy person is good at figuring things out and will happily “give it the old college try”. Uncle Chuck knows a little bit about electrical, a little bit of carpentry and the basics of plumbing. If he charges you at all it isn’t a lot. The work does not have the same level of quality as a career tradesmen, but that’s ok because it didn’t cost as much as a professional contractor.
We’re not your uncle Chuck.
We think about handywork very differently. Our team members are not less-expensive good-enough stand-ins; we are skilled professionals who feed our families based on the quality of our craftsmanship. Our professionals take pride in the breadth of their experience and abilities. Electricians and plumbers only know their singular trade, but we work in multiple disciplines while maintaining the highest standards. Our team members are attuned to the whole picture of your house and not just one element of it. Isn’t your home worth that?
Every home visit and conversation with one of our senior craftsmen comes with decades of hands-on experience in multiple disciplines and a deep understanding of how a house comes together during the building process. We know the common building practices of different eras. Our professionals have a point of view about better ways to work and which products to use. These expert opinions have been formed by day-in day-out work in actual homes. We know the products available, which ones are best for which purposes, and where to buy them.
If you hire an electrical contractor, he will arrive at your home with a van full of tools and materials. A plumber would also arrive in a truck, with a whole different set of tools and supplies. The same is true for a carpenter. When a crew from House Specialties arrives at your home, we bring the tools and expertise of multiple trades to every project. We’re good enough to do large scale remodeling…we just choose to specialize in small projects.
Many handymen charge an hourly rate, and you may be on this page to find our hourly rate so you can compare us to other handymen. When a professional charges by the hour, who pays for the five trips to the hardware store? If the contractor makes a mistake, who pays for the hours of work to fix the mistake? If the worker didn’t have enough coffee on his way to work and is moving slowly, who pays for his lethargy?
When a job is billed hourly, who is actually taking the risk on the job? You, the homeowner, are taking the risk. And who is being rewarded in every scenario above? The contractor is.
We believe that a professional knows how long a job will take and the approximate material cost. That is a hallmark of a professional. Unlike other handymen, House Specialties prefers to work on a fixed price basis. Whenever possible, we’ll quote you a bottom-line price for your work. We believe this is the right way to do business.
Sometimes there are too many unknown circumstances or variables to provide a specific price. When this is the case, we’ll educate you on the unknown factors that are at play and provide an estimated range. As the work progresses we’ll keep you informed about our findings and the effect on your project cost.